1st SIJ Group Sales Conference

Ljubljana, Friday, 11 September 2015 – SIJ Group showcases its development projects and plans to expand its sales channels at the first SIJ Group Sales Conference

With over EUR 600 million of annual exports, the SIJ – Slovenian Steel Group is one of Slovenia’s leading exporters. Net sales on foreign markets represent 86% of all revenues, and the export share continues to grow. In the first half of 2015 the proportion of exports in the revenue structure increased by 1.5 percentage points – to 87.8%. The key markets remain in the EU, particularly Germany and Italy, although market shares on some overseas markets are quickly growing, such as in the USA where growth was 68.2% compared to the first half of 2014.

The first SIJ Group Sales Conference was held on 9th and 10th September. The purpose of the conference was to strengthen the SIJ brand, showcase our key development projects and expand our sales channels. The conference was attended by delegates from all our key business partners from over 20 countries.

"The SIJ Group is not and never will be a producer of mass types of steel. This is not our competition field. We compete elsewhere – in specialized niche markets of demanding steel products with high added value and high growth potential. This is our competition, and we do not merely want to participate in it. We want to win it. Just as we have won in the competition for market shares in stainless quarto plates in Europe and just like we are winning in single tool steel markets. Two decades ago there probably weren't many people who believed we would have one third of the market share of stainless quarto plates in Europe. But now we can see that we have not only achieved this share, but we are also successfully maintaining it. Therefore there should be no doubt that we will also do everything necessary to implement our goals for special stainless plates and high-alloy steels (for example nickel), where we see new opportunities for growth in the key markets of the Group," said Anton Chernykh, President of the Board of Directors, in his presentation of strategic sales and distribution goals.

The representatives of end customers, agents and distributors of the production programs of the Group were guided through the activities which have been set as a priority for upgrading our sales and marketing process. The reference development projects which bring significant added value throughout the supply chain also attracted much interest among the attendees. Two of these are especially worth mentioning. One is the development of new special steels in Metal Ravne for the energy industry, which were developed in close collaboration with Metal Ravne and Siemens. They are paving the way towards an even greater presence in the industry. The second important project is the upgrade of standard industrial knives for the metal processing industry at Ravne Knives. The life span of these knives is as much as 75% longer than that of the competition.

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The SIJ Group is the largest Slovenian vertically integrated metallurgist group, ranking among the top market positions on the European and world niche steel markets. The Group comprises five business areas, has 22 affiliated companies in Europe and the USA, and employs 3,200 people.

In 2014, the SIJ Group generated EUR 707.8 million in revenues or a 7% increase in comparison with 2013. The EBITDA increased by 91% reaching EUR 77.8 million. The 11% EBITDA margin that we achieved put the SIJ Group among the most successful world steel producing groups in 2014. The EBIT amounted to EUR 39.6 million and increased by 18 times in comparison with 2013, and net profit was slightly less than EUR 25 million.